Jews in Maine’s Colleges

Jews in Maine's Colleges

“The prospect of Jewish and Christian students living under the same roof, sharing the same table, associating at parties together, dating one another, or being accepted at each other’s parental homes as ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’ was remote indeed.” --Marianne Sanua, Going Greek

Breaking into the social scene on Maine’s college campuses was difficult for Jewish students throughout most of the 20th century because of resistance from gentile peers. Many gentiles did not want to socialize with Jews. For that reason, fraternities routinely refused to admit Jewish candidates from the 1920s into the ’60s. This meant that Jews had to form their own social organizations.